Hay spreader



5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. E. BUR-T.

HAY SPREADER.

Patented June 25, 1867.

Imhza'r 5' Sheets-Sheet 2. G. E. BURT. HAY SPREADER No. 66,074. PatentedJune 25, 1867.

Inzenifar 4 5 M9 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

G. E. BURT. HAY SPREADER.

o. 66,074. Patented June 25, 1867.

Witnesses I .64; 1 2W '5 Sheets-Sheet4.

G. E. BURT. HAY SPREADER.

Patented June 25, 1867.

d-( Imam 5 Sheeis-Sheet 5.

G'. E. BURT. HAY SPREADER.

No. 66,074. Patented June 25, 1867.

Fly 12 V Witnesses frweiflvz- V goiter grates agate-at @fficr.

GEORGE E. BU RT, or HARVARD, MASSACHUSETTS. Letters Patent No. 66,074,dated June 25, 186i; antedate'd December 25, 1866.

- IMPROVEMENT IN HAY-SPREADHRS.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that LGEORGE E. BUR'r, of Harvard, in the county ofVilorcester in the State of'Mass'aehusctts, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Hay-Tedders; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full and 'exact de'soriptionthereof, reference being. had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a birds-eye view. FigureQ is a side elevation.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the end of the cylinder-C nearestthe pinion P.-

Figure 4 is a longitudinai'section of one end of the cylinder 0 nearestthe pinion P, showing the same parts as those shown' infig, 3.

Figures 5 and (i are transverse andlongitndinal sections taken in themiddle part of the cylinder 0, to show the connections and operation ofthe forks ff. I Y i Figure 7 is a side elevation with the wheels removedso as to show the manner in which the rake R balances the tcdder. i

Figure '8 is a diagram showing the relative position of the forks andconnecting arms, when the shank of the'fork ispivoted to the connectingarm.

Figure 9 is a diagram showing the relative position of the forks andconnecting arms, when thecoil of the fork is pivoted to the connectingarm;

Figure 10 is a diagram showing the same connections as fig. 8; but soconstructed that the'forks may be readily removed and repaired wheninjured. i

Figure 11 is a diagram showing the, same connections as fig. 9; but alsoso constructed that the forksmay be'readily removed and repaired. I aFigure 12 is a skeleton of the rotating heads, showing the eccentricallyplaced shaft L, and the shafts a e by which the forks are connectedwith'the heads, and upon which they swing.

Figure 13 is an end view of the rotating heads, showing the position ofthe eccentrically placed shaft L.

The sameletters represent like parts in all the figures.

It is well known that hay-'tedders constructed with rotating orrevolving forks get clogged and choked with. hay, when in operation,especially when open or barred. cylinders are used, as the hay is liableto be drawn on to them by the rotary motion of the forks.

The nature of;my invention consists'in giving a positive acceleratedmotion to the forks while they act on the hay, causing them to tossthehay before them and clear themselves entirely from it, thus avoidingall liability of clogging the machine, and the forks'yet being free tospring back when they come in contact with any obstacle. Also incombining a rake with the tedder such a manner that one balances theother,-ahd either may be used without the other'interfering with itsoperation. I I

To-enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproeeed to describe its construction and operation. i i i I I constructmy teldder, with wheels and shafts, in the usual-manner. The tedder issupported by the arms A A, which are pivoted to the shaft S by the pivoti. The rake is supported by the arms B B,-and is pivoted to the shaft bythe pivot z; the arms Band A are connected together by the arm-J, asseen in figs. 2 and I, in sueh'a mannerthat when the tedder is loweredinto itsworking position the rake is elevated out of the way, I and whenthe rake is lowered the tedder will be elevated out of the way; the rakebalancing the tedder all the while throughthe combination of the arms B,J, and A, shown injfig. 7. The pinion I cogs into gears on thedriving-wheel W, when. the tedder is in position to w'ork,, as seen infig. 2. The pinion P is placed on the end. of a shaft, L, which runsthrough the dead-centre U, as seen in fig. 4, not in the middle of thedeadcentre, but on one side of its centre. The pinion-shaft L extendsthrough the entire length of thecylinder, a little on one side of thecentre on which the cylinder 0 revolves, which is shown in figs. 3 and4, 12 and 13. The heads I; b 'revolre on the deadscentre U, which ismade large enough to enclose the pinion-shaft L, sh own in figs. 4 and13. The dead-centre U is attached firmly to the arm A, The. pinion-shaftL is provided with an internal gearwheel, F, which cogs into thegear-wheel V, which -is placed in the centre of the cylinder 0, and isconnected to it by the disk. The gear-wheel V has a hole through it aslarge as-the deadcentre U, -on which it turns, so that it may revolvewithout interfering with the shaft L, "which passes through it, on oneside of its centre, figs. 3, 4, and 13. It is well known that the rapidrotary motion of thc forks in hay-tedders, when in operation, is verydestructive tothe forksif they come in contact with any obstacle thatwill notyield readily. Obstacles that a hay-rake would pass without anydamage to the 'rak'e teeth will badly injure or break the forks of ahay-tedder; and in order to makea hay-tcdder practicable the forks mustbe constructed in such a manner that they can be readily replaced atsmall expense. The forks of this machine may be constructed with bothtines made of one rod; but when made in this manner they mustbeconstrncted with 'a short b'endwhich forms the loop thatconnects thetwo tines; but th'ismode of construction is objectionable, as the: shortbend which forms the connection or loop between the thesis very liableto break in bending, sow (taken thedvirethat it is liable to'brcak inuse; and if one tine becomes injured the entireforkmust be removed,which itlisi diflicult to do. To avoid the above difliculties Ieonsti-uctthe two tines-of the fork of separate pieces, and connecttheir: i shanks with the block it which is made with holes to receivethem. The forks f f' are coiled around thc tubc c a, seen in figs5 and6, which is attached to the shaft a by the armsigrg. The shanks oftheforks are held in place by the block b. on the shaft a, though whichblockthey pass, see figs. 5 and 6, 1" and 11. vThe shaft a is heldinposition by the revolving-heads b 6, fig. 12. The connecting-arm Dextends from and attaches to the tube 0 0, (around which the folks arecoilcd,)[and 'to the pinion-shaft L, seen figs. 11 and 5.' The armDma-y'be connected to the shank of the fork, and the coil may be.connected to the revolving-heads; but if so arranged the force exertedto operate the forks is transmitted the connecting-arm to the sha nk,thus, indirectly to the forks, causing a heavy strain on the shank andcoil of the 'forks,'andinoreasing the friction. When theforks areconnected as above the shaft is placed above thecentre of therevolving-heads, shown in figs. 8 and 10; but if arranged, as shown infig. 5, the arm D is connected with tho eoil of the forks, and the forceto operate the forks acts directly upon them and does not strain theshank'or the eoil shown in figs. 9 and 11. The forks are placed spirallyaround on the rotating-heads, and by the shafts a a each head isconnected with the next, and thus all the heads are attached and revolvetogether. These heads may be coveredby lags, thus forming a cylinder andprotecting the internal parts from the weather andliab'ility toaccidents; but will be'equally effectual in its operation ifleft open asa skeleton, shown in fig. 12-. .Th s-teddermay be eonfstructed with theshafts a a extending through itslentire length, and employingonly thetwo end heads, but this .woulnl require that the shafts. should be quitestout and heavy, or they would spring wheil in operation. If .a lessnumber of shafts than forks is used-the forks mustbe set in rows, thusmore than, one fork acting at atime, which is objectionable; forinstance, if four -shafts and eight forks are employed, it will beseenthat two forksmustact at'a time, thus throwing the hay in bunchesBut'ifithe forks are set spirally around the shaft L, as shown in fig.12, the total length of all the shafts employed to hang the forks willbe but little-more than the length of the tedder, thus but one fork willact at a time, and the machine can be manufactured at less expense. Eachfork and shaft being independent, anyone may be removed for repairswithout'disturbing any other part of the machine. O is a lever tooperate the rake, and'raise and lower the tedder. d is an are on whichthe'handle O is held in place by the pins r r". The armA is'coustru'cted with projections which form a dead-centrefupoii which thehead rcvolves,'(sce fig. 4,)"and which serves as a box .in which theshaft L turns. i

Operation.

When the tedder'islowered into position to work, as shown in fig.- 2,the pinion P is in cog with the-internal gear on the driving-wheel W.When the team starts with this machine the wheel Wrolls along the aground, andthe pinion P aud'shaft L areldriven around rapidly. Theinternal gear-wheel F, 4, is firmlyfixed on to the'pinion-shaft L, andasit turns it causes the gear-wheel V, into which it cogs, to revolvestill more rapidly. As the gear-wheel V is placed in the centre of therevolving-head I the cylinder is made to revolve'by being attachedto'the revolving-heads 6, on which the geauV is firmly fixed. Thus theheads I) bare made to revolve on the deadscentre U, tlie pinion-shaft Lpassing-through the tedder onions side of its centre, so that the shaftsa a approach and recede from the shaft as they revolve round it, (shownfigs. 4,12, and 13.)"

The forks f f are coiled around the tube a a which swings on the shaft aby the arms 9 When the cylinder is in the position shown infig. 5, bythe full lines, with the forks f f at the "bottom of the rotatin heads 5b, the shaft-'a, betweentheheads, is 'brough'tnear to the pinion-shaftL, and the connectin ar'm D forces -the tube a c down towards theoutside of the shaft ja, so that the forks stand in the position as.shown. Now, as the heads revolve, the forks ff throw the hay before themwith a quick, accelerated motion in addition to their rotary motion, andthe impulse given to the hay by the accelerated motion of the forkstosses the hay oh, and as the heads revolve the. shaft a recedes fromtheshaft L, withwhich it is connected by the arm D, causing the forks torock back andpass up with is retarded motion entirely free from hay.Thus a positive" accelerated motion is given to the forks, in additiontotheir rotary motion,- during the first part of their revolutiollfwhile they'act on the hay, and a retarded or backward motion duringthe latter part oftheif-revolution, thus avoiding all liability t0 clogthe machines, and the hay is efi'ectually shaken up with a motionsi'milarto that of. the hand-fork. The position of the forks, as abovedescribed, is shown in figs. 9 and 11.

i When the arm Dis connected to the shank 'of the fork as shown in figs.8 andlO, the shaft'L must be placed in the dead-centre above the. centreof therevclving-heads, and-the motion of the forks will be the same asabove described butby this arrangement there will be a greater strain onthe shank and coil-of-the forks, and'by thus increasing the friction itwill require more force to drive'the machine. The coil-:in the forksforms a spring,-which will yield when the forks come in contact withanyobstacle.

By the arrangement ofthe tube 0 0, arm 9, and block b, the coil of thefork c,an.be made to rest on, the

tube a, which always maintains the same relative position to the forkslff, thus avoiding allfriction and wear on the coils, which would becaused if the forks rockedon a pivot or shaft passing directly throughtheeeil of the fork, which wear would soon weaken and destroy thestrength of the coil at a point where the greatest power-is exerted inoperating upon the hay. The block it is connected to the rotating headsby the this; a, on which it swings. The shanks of the forks passingthrough the hloek lt connect the forks to the rotating-heads.

By the above arrangement, the single tinesjof the. forks arefiruily'attachcrl together; but either of them can be readily removedand replaced ivheninjured, by drawiug'ou't the short shaft 4, whichsimply holds one i'ork, thus saving the expense of a whole fork when onetine only is injured. 7

,By placing the forks spirall'yf around on the rotating heads, one forkonly acts upon the hay at a time, thus shaking up the hay insin'gle'forkfuls, and not in large hunches, as would be the ease if twoor more forks noted at a time; t i I a v i v The rake R and the tedderare hung by the arms 13 J and A, as describedin the construction, insuch a inannerthat one balances the other, and either may he raised outof the way while the other is at work.

In fig. 7 the tedder is raprasented as down in its working position,with the rake elevated, by the full lines,

and the dotted lines represent the rake as down in working position,with the tedder elevated.

When the tedder'is elevated, the pinion P is not ir i'cog with" the gearon the wheel W, as the pinion and cylinder 0 swing by the arms A A,which are pivoted by the pivot i at a sufiicint distance from the centreof the wheel W to throw the pinion P out of gear as it is elevated.

when the rake has beenlowe red, and is filled with hay, and the operatorwishes to discharge the hay, he pulls the top of the bent lever O Oback,pushing the arm T down, which forces the curved arm A down but as thearm A falls, it draws down theend'ofthe lever B, to which it is attachedby the arm J. As the end of the arm 13, which is attached to the arm Jis lowercd, thc other end, to which the rake R is attached, is elevatedas the arm B turns on the pivot-z, and the hay is discharged behind thetedder from the rake. The tedder now being in gear while the rake iselevated, throws the hay back from under it on to, the windrow formed bythe rake, thus making an opening in the hay close to the \vindrow, intowhich opening the rake is loweredafter it has passed over the windrow.By this arrangement all scatterings after the rake, where it divides thehay from the windrow, are avoided. When the rake is elevated the tedderis in its working position, and spreads the hay andshakes it up withoutany interference whatever from the rake.

The handle 00 is held in its position by the pins r a", so that therakeor'tedder maybe held in position.

to operate as described.

The gears F and V are placed insideof the head or disk Q, to secure themfrom being clogged withhay while in operation, (see fig. 4.) 1

By means of 'the arms A A and the lever 0 O, the driver in his seat maythrow the tedder in and out 'of gear, or elevate it sufliciently to passfrom field to field. I

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent,'xs-

1. The forksfwhen so operated as to revolve around a common centre; andat the some time to have-an oscillatory motion communicated to them bythe positive action of mechanism by whiohtheir, points shall be thrownforward with an accelerated motion when acting upon the hay, and beretracted when throwing oil the hay, substantially in the manner setforth.

2 So arranging the revolving shaft L that it shall passeccentrically-throughthe dead-eentre mand, leceiving motion from thewheel W through the pinion P, shall communicate it to the forkuf,substantially in theimanner set forth.

3. The combination of the shaft L placed eccentrically to the centreofthe rotating heads 6' with the arms D, shaft a, and forksf,substantially as and forthc purpose set forth.

4. The balancing of' the tedder by the rake, substantially as described,

r GEORGE E. BURT.

Witnesses E. A. Hrnnnnrn, S. B. "HILDRETH.

